Syma Forum

I've been looking at some of the more expensive camera-equipped drones and it seems this technology is really taking off.  If I could afford to I would like to buy a Phantom 2, which is equipped with a GoPro camera.  The price is $1,099 -- but there are even more expensive units available.  I've seen some which cost up to $3,500!   

As with any new technology, prices are always high during the introductory stages of availability.  I bought a Panasonic VCR when they first appeared back in 1980.  It cost $900.  And while it was quite impressive at the time, looking back it was rather primitive compared with those which appeared prior to the VCR's eventual obsolescence.  

I bought another Panasonic VCR about five years ago.  It is mechanically and electronically far superior to the one I bought in 1980 -- and it cost only $125!  So I'm sure we can look forward to similar improvements in quality and reduction in prices as RC drone technology passes through its inevitable stages of competitive evolution.  

So unless restrictive laws are passed I fully expect to see drone traffic becoming common and thickening year after year.

Redfive said
Yes the F1 (flying dragon) is a syma but larger and has a radio rather than ir control  it can fly indoors but needs lots of room. For indoor use the F4 is a 3 channel Infra red single rotor that flies like a 107

http://s267.photobucket.com/us.....6.jpg.html

Thanks!

Redfive said
Well written Mike. For outdoor flight with the same controls as the 107 the F1 with its radio control is ideal.

Hello, Redfive!

Good to hear from a cousin in the Mother Country.

Question:  Is the F1 you mention a Syma machine?  Is it as easy to control as the S-107?  And is it as suitable for indoor use as the S-107?

Mike--

I don't recall why I chose the Syma S-107 as my introduction to flying these little drones, but if I'd chosen something else it is likely I would quickly have lost interest in the hobby and put it aside.  It is the ease at which getting this tiny machine to lift off my coffee table, hover like a hummingbird, and obediently respond to commands from my totally inexperienced, 77 year-old fingers and brain.  

I was so impressed with the S-107 I thought I'd have little to no trouble working with something a bit more sophisticated, so I ordered a UDI-13A, which is a bit bigger, heavier, 3-channel, radio controlled, with camera.  This bird turned out to be too fast and awkward for flying indoors and too unstable for effective control outdoors with even a slight breeze.  

My next effort was a WL-V911, which is smaller and lighter than the S-107, RF controlled, 4 channel, which was much too fast to fly indoors, too light for outdoors in a slight breeze, and I am too old to be chasing these hard-to-control (for me) machines around an open field.  

Next came the S-106 Chinook, another Syma, slightly bigger (longer) than the S-107.  This is a nice little 3 channel Syma machine which is suitable for indoor flying -- but if I didn't have the experience afforded by flying the 107 all around my house I would quickly have given up trying to control the Chinook and given it away.  The problem with this machine is it needs a considerable trim adjustment when initiating each new flight.  I believe this is owing to its long shape and the positioning of its rotors.  But once I figured out how to get this heli stabilized it is (almost) as easy to fly around the house as the 107.

So, having just replaced the battery in my faithful 107 for the second time, and having resigned to the fact that this well-designed little machine is as good as it gets for my level of interest, I've noticed that within the year since I discovered these RC helis there seems to have been a significant surge of general interest in the technology.  So I'm sure we can look forward to a proportionate surge of new, vastly improved and reasonably-priced rc helis and quads in the very near future.  

Meanwhile, for me, the S-107 is as good as it gets.